Champions League standings released as Celtic and Rangers battle it out for a berth at the expanded top table.

The Champions League journey for this season’s Scottish Premiership winners is beginning to take shape.

As things stand, only one team—Rangers or Celtic—will be able to enter the multimillionaire playground that is European football. Record Sport disclosed earlier in the month that our two best teams might still meet at the top of the league, sparing the runner-up from the terrible qualifying rounds, but that would require Rangers to win the Europa League this year. If that doesn’t happen, the side that lifts the league trophy in May will be the only one with access to the £40 million+ golden goose, unless the team that finishes in second place manages to successfully negotiate the challenging qualification process. The Light Blues defeated PSV in the previous two seasons, but this year the Dutch powerhouses exacted revenge with a commanding overall victory.

With just 12 games remaining in the season, Philippe Clement and Brendan Rodgers are competing for the Premiership title and now face the added burden of a multi-million pound pay day. After another wild weekend, Rangers have established a two-point advantage and are in command at the top. The latter third of fixtures, which see the rivals square off twice more, could prove to be even more crucial before the new format takes effect in Europe’s top championship.

 

There are now 36 available seats for the Champions League‘s 2024–2025 league phase, with participation assured for both this year’s winner and the Europa League victor. Four seats apiece are occupied by England, Spain, Germany, and Italy, while France will send three representatives. With Portugal, Belgium, Scotland, and Austria currently having one confirmed representative, the Netherlands will be allowed to send two teams. Two clubs from the European Performance positions—Bologna and Leipzig, according to the most recent list—as well as five teams from the Champions qualification road and two teams from the league path make up the remaining positions.

The group stage is where Celtic or Rangers will see the biggest change. In the next league round, the 36 clubs that go this far in the competition will take part in a single league and play EIGHT matches. Clubs now play half of their games at home and half away against EIGHT different teams, as opposed to three different opponents under the home and away format. Teams will be ranked in four seeding pots and drawn to play two opponents from each pot in order to decide their opponents.

Teams that place one through eight advance to the round of 16, while teams that place nine through twenty-four must participate in a two-egg knockout play-off to guarantee their spot in the round of sixteen. If you place 25th or lower, you will be eliminated without a safety net in the Europa League.

The league phase matches that are played between September and January will also change the appearance of the fixture schedule. There will be ONE matchweek dedicated to the Champions League, Europa League, and Europa Conference League; the other two tournaments will not be played during that week. Games are scheduled for that week on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

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